Daniel Alfredsson played his entire NHL career with the Ottawa Senators before signing with the Red Wings. / Charles LeClaire, USA TODAY Sports

by Helene St. James, USA TODAY Sports

by Helene St. James, USA TODAY Sports

DETROIT - Daniel Alfredsson is settling in nicely: Wednesday, he and his wife will sort out schools for their oldest sons; later this month, Alfredsson and family will move into a new house.

Already Alfredsson has moved into the Detroit Red Wings' locker room at Joe Louis Arena - and then moved again, as fellow newcomer Stephen Weiss ended up in the stall next to captain Henrik Zetterberg. The Red Wings want Weiss to learn from Zetterberg, just like the guy he replaced, Valtteri Filppula.

Alfredsson, 40, garnered much of the spotlight in July when he surprised everyone and left Ottawa after 17 seasons, seeing in Detroit a better chance to win an elusive Stanley Cup. Yet Weiss, 30, is no less of an exciting signing for the Red Wings, who see him as an upgrade over Filppula.

"We're looking for a guy to generate more in the middle," coach Mike Babcock said after watching Tuesday's informal skate (coaches can't go on the ice until next week's camp). "Can Weiss generate 50 points playing in the middle on our second line? I'm going to watch and see. We think he's going to be a way better player here."

Used to relative anonymity in Florida - and three playoff trips in 11 seasons - Weiss is in for a change.

Babcock already has Weiss penciled in next to Johan Franzen, forming the second-line pairing behind Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. Babcock isn't certain whether Alfredsson will play with Datsyuk or Weiss, only that for starters Alfredsson will play the right point on power plays opposite Niklas Kronwall.

Reiterating comments he made two months ago, Babcock emphasized he told Weiss that playing in Detroit would require ultra-competitiveness.

Weiss is determined to exceed expectations.

"This is one of the teams that I think every player in the league would like to play for at some point in his career," he said.

Part of the appeal, Weiss said, is learning from the likes of Zetterberg and Datsyuk, and now Alfredsson.

Alfredsson said part of pre-signing discussions with Babcock and general manager Ken Holland centered on Detroit, "and how is it for a family to live here, and they had great things to say. They've got great sports programs for kids. Hockey is wonderful, I've heard. It's exciting times for our whole family."